Hard floor surfaces are, typically, durable and easily maintained. It is desirable for floors in high traffic areas to clean easily and withstand years of wear without losing their aesthetic appearance.
Ceramic tiles have been utilized for thousands of years to provide decorative hard floor surfaces. Ceramic tiles are secured to a base surface by a fastening or adhesive agent. A grout or mortar is installed between the ceramic tiles.
Ceramic tiles and other hard floor surfaces are easily maintained and withstand heavy traffic, but such floors can be slippery when soiled or wet. This problem is especially dangerous for floors in doorways, kitchens, and bathrooms where soil, such as oil, grease, sand, or water, can be deposited onto the floor.
The "slip resistance" of a floor can be increased by an abrasive surface. Abrasive surfaces can be incorporated into certain floor surfaces by mixing sand, aluminum oxide, carbide particles, or another grit in paint and painting the floor surface with the mixture. The surface coefficient of friction or "COF" of sand is higher than the surface coefficient of friction for a painted surface. However, when sand is mixed into paint, the paint coats the sand and reduces the surface coefficient of friction of the sand. An exposed surface of the sand can be provided to a floor surface by distributing sand onto a wet painted floor surface. Such a non-slip floor surface does not resist heavy traffic and is not aesthetically pleasing. A sand-covered painted surface can be suitable for an exterior floor surface such as concrete, but it is undesirable for most interior floor surfaces. Interior floor surfaces must withstand heavy traffic and an aesthetic appearance and feel on, for example, bare feet. Painting an interior floor with a grit-containing paint is neither an effective nor an aesthetic solution to preventing slipperiness on an interior floor surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,208 to Griffin discloses a floor surface wherein glass spheres are incorporated into a surface adhesive film. An epoxy-type resin containing a significant concentration of minuscule solid spheres, such as glass beads, is coated onto a floor surface. This grit-containing epoxy mixture increases the slip resistance of the floor, but it does not provide sufficient slip resistance when heavily coated with water or grease.
The background art of coating floor surfaces to increase slip resistance is undesirable because the character of the floor surface is permanently changed. Coating a floor surface with a grit-containing paint makes the floor surface abrasive. The abrasive surface traps dirt and can damage cleaning equipment.
The industry lacks an inexpensive cover system and, particularly, a slip-resistant floor that can be easily cleaned and quickly installed.